IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p5970-d1690206.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green Paradox in the Carbon Neutrality Process: A Strategic Game About the Shipping Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Peng Xu

    (College of Economics and Management, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China)

  • Yukun Cao

    (College of Economics and Management, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China)

  • Jingye Li

    (College of Economics and Management, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China)

Abstract

The shipping industry plays a significant role in China’s and the global pursuit of carbon neutrality, and it is essential to be cautious about the potential risks associated with the green paradox. This study incorporates Goal Setting Theory and Value Expectations Theory into the analytical framework of the green paradox and tests this framework through a strategic game research design. The study finds that, first, the green paradox of shipping companies presents hidden characteristics, and the loss caused by coping strategies is a necessary risk to be vigilant about. Second, the green paradox of shipping companies is mainly caused by the decision-makers’ goal perception of accessibility. Moreover, due to the motivation of long-term acceptance of green subsidies, decision-makers will delay the carbon neutrality process. Third, policies need to adopt a gradient increasing quota management strategy, and be accompanied by a variety of policy tools to reduce the risk of the green paradox. This study opens the theoretical “black box” of market expectations and provides a solution to reduce the risk of the green paradox.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng Xu & Yukun Cao & Jingye Li, 2025. "Green Paradox in the Carbon Neutrality Process: A Strategic Game About the Shipping Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-11, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5970-:d:1690206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5970/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5970/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5970-:d:1690206. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.